Pressure’s on Yves Hamelin family in short-track speedskating

‘Before the start of the event, we are always asking ourselves if the process will give the end result we are looking for,’ high performance director Yves Hamelin says of the Canadian short-track team trials that wrapped up Tuesday at the Pacific Coliseum. ‘We’re really happy with the ones that are

Photograph by: Ian Lindsay
, Vancouver Sun

Yves Hamelin is well aware of what it as stake.

This Olympics will not just about representing the country of Canada on home soil. For Hamelin, who is short track speedskating's national team program director, a family's reputation will also be on the line.

Hamelin's two sons, Charles and Francois, are on the team. As well, Charles' girlfriend Marianne St-Gelais is on the women's team.

The family connections have made the Hamelins an obvious story heading into the Olympics, because all three have the opportunity to bring home multiple medals.

But if the Canada's short-track speedskaters falter at the finish line, the next time Yves and his family sit down together for Sunday dinner could see more shoving than a typical lap around the oval.

Not that the laid-back Charles Hamelin, who is the shaggy-haired and bearded face of the Canadian team, is shying away from the internal pressure.

"We must try to make the most of the pressure and the encouragement," he recently told reporters. "All the Canadian athletes want a medal, especially in Vancouver. But we can't put too much pressure on ourselves."

A silver medallist in the 5,000-metre relay at the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Italy, where he also placed fourth in the 1,500-metre distance, Hamelin has the potential to break out in Vancouver. And at a recent World Cup event in Montreal, the native of Ste-Julie, Que., proved that he could handle the hometown crowds by winning the 500- and 1,500-metre races, finishing third in the 1,000-metre race and helping the Canadian team finish second in the relay.

Montreal was a sort of mini-Olympics. Hamelin skated against American star Apolo Anton Ohno and the usual favourites from China and Korea. And the 25-year-old showed the world that Canada is a country to be reckoned with.

"The World Cup in Montreal was the best competition of my life as a short-track speedskater," Hamelin told reporters. "It was a great moment to have right before the Olympics. It shows that we're ready to compete hard against the other countries at the Olympics."

Now comes the real challenge: getting back on the podium when the stakes are even greater.

Aside from Hamelin, a lot is expected of the Canadian team. Kalyna Roberge was a silver medallist in the relay at the 2006 Olympics, where she finished fourth in the 500-metre race. Up-and-comer Jessica Gregg was named Speed Skating Canada's Female Athlete of the Year. And the dreadlocked Olivier Jean is considered to be a force in the 500-metre race and relay.

As such, the team is hoping to stuff its suitcases full of medals.

"If we win one medal at the Olympics, we can't say we'll be satisfied, because it won't be true," Francois-Louis Tremblay, a silver medallist in 2006, said when the team was announced in the summer. "The way I look at goals is that you can choose to set safe, reachable ones, but why wouldn't you choose to set extraordinary ones? If you can get there, why not shoot for that?''

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‘Before the start of the event, we are always asking ourselves if the process will give the end result we are looking for,’ high performance director Yves Hamelin says of the Canadian short-track team trials that wrapped up Tuesday at the Pacific Coliseum. ‘We’re really happy with the ones that are

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